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More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world

Increased winter survival by reducing energy expenditure in adult animals is often viewed as the primary function of torpor. However, torpor has many other functions that ultimately increase the survival of heterothermic mammals and birds. In this review, we summarize new findings revealing that ani...

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Autores principales: Nowack, Julia, Stawski, Clare, Geiser, Fritz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486538/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28432393
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1100-y
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author Nowack, Julia
Stawski, Clare
Geiser, Fritz
author_facet Nowack, Julia
Stawski, Clare
Geiser, Fritz
author_sort Nowack, Julia
collection PubMed
description Increased winter survival by reducing energy expenditure in adult animals is often viewed as the primary function of torpor. However, torpor has many other functions that ultimately increase the survival of heterothermic mammals and birds. In this review, we summarize new findings revealing that animals use torpor to cope with the conditions during and after natural disasters, including fires, storms, and heat waves. Furthermore, we suggest that torpor, which also prolongs longevity and was likely crucial for survival of mammals during the time of the dinosaur extinctions, will be advantageous in a changing world. Climate change is assumed to lead to an increase in the occurrence and intensity of climatic disasters, such as those listed above and also abnormal floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. The opportunistic use of torpor, found in many heterothermic species, will likely enhance survival of these challenges, because these species can reduce energy and foraging requirements. However, many strictly seasonal hibernators will likely face the negative consequences of the predicted increase in temperature, such as range contraction. Overall, available data suggest that opportunistic heterotherms with their flexible energy requirements have an adaptive advantage over homeotherms in response to unpredictable conditions.
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spelling pubmed-54865382017-07-17 More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world Nowack, Julia Stawski, Clare Geiser, Fritz J Comp Physiol B Original Paper Increased winter survival by reducing energy expenditure in adult animals is often viewed as the primary function of torpor. However, torpor has many other functions that ultimately increase the survival of heterothermic mammals and birds. In this review, we summarize new findings revealing that animals use torpor to cope with the conditions during and after natural disasters, including fires, storms, and heat waves. Furthermore, we suggest that torpor, which also prolongs longevity and was likely crucial for survival of mammals during the time of the dinosaur extinctions, will be advantageous in a changing world. Climate change is assumed to lead to an increase in the occurrence and intensity of climatic disasters, such as those listed above and also abnormal floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. The opportunistic use of torpor, found in many heterothermic species, will likely enhance survival of these challenges, because these species can reduce energy and foraging requirements. However, many strictly seasonal hibernators will likely face the negative consequences of the predicted increase in temperature, such as range contraction. Overall, available data suggest that opportunistic heterotherms with their flexible energy requirements have an adaptive advantage over homeotherms in response to unpredictable conditions. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2017-04-21 2017 /pmc/articles/PMC5486538/ /pubmed/28432393 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1100-y Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Nowack, Julia
Stawski, Clare
Geiser, Fritz
More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title_full More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title_fullStr More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title_full_unstemmed More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title_short More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
title_sort more functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486538/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28432393
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1100-y
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